Maryville University Announces New Center for Sustainability

June 9, 2011

Peggy Lauer, Director of the Center for Sustainability

Maryville University has announced the creation of a new Center for Sustainability. Programs initiated through the Center will help advance sustainability on campus and throughout the greater St. Louis region, said President Mark Lombardi, PhD.

“Sustainability is one of our six core values,” Lombardi said. “There have been numerous people promoting sustainability and as such we have made great progress toward a greener future for our campus and the greater St. Louis community. Now is the time to place those efforts under one roof.”

Peggy Lauer, University Library serials and monographs coordinator and co-chair of Maryville’s Sustainability Advisory Council, has been named director of the Center. Lauer looks forward to expanding the University’s reach in the community on relevant issues and working with students to help them develop initiatives.

“I feel extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to serve the University doing something I’m so passionate about,” she said. “That’s a rare opportunity and I’m very appreciative and excited to see what we can do.”

Lauer is a longtime advocate of strong environmental practices on Maryville’s campus. In 2009, she was awarded a staff sabbatical to explore various sustainability programs in the St. Louis area and ways Maryville can partner with other organizations and institutions in the community to promote such efforts. As a result of her sabbatical, Lauer represented Maryville in co-founding the Higher Education Sustainability Consortium, a group comprised of 18 universities in the region.

Maryville has established four Centers of Excellence built around core values, including the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Center for Global Education, the Center for Civic Engagement and Democracy and the Center for Academic Success and First-Year Experience. The express purpose of these Centers is to support the University’s academic programs and faculty across three schools – the School of Education, the School of Health Professions and the John E. Simon School of Business – and the College of Arts and Sciences.

About Maryville University Founded in 1872, Maryville University is a four-year, private university located in St. Louis, Mo., and ranked by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Colleges in the Regional Universities – Midwest category. Maryville University students may choose from 50 academic programs, including degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. Approximately 3,700 students are enrolled through the College of Arts and Sciences, the John E. Simon School of Business, the School of Health Professions and the School of Education.

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